I seem to have hit a wrong note here, which was not intended.  I do not
see that calling the Malocolog a "wonderful piece of scholarship" with
the one caveat that it sticks to the literature perhaps a bit too
uncritically is an insult or a "grave disservice", and i tried to be as
objective as possible in saying a few brief words regarding the
limitations of the literature in question within the scope of my
personal knowledge base. Mr. Petit DOES have a point  when he opines
that if i know of errors in the literature that i "should"
correspondingly publish what i have found, so that this will also become
part of the record, presented in a recognized, peer-reviewed journal and
not merely in comments in discussion groups and unpublished works such
as the one offered in response to a previous request.  That said, my
purpose in writing the post which seems to have offended several people,
was not to cast aspersions on the scholarship of Dr. Rosenberg, for whom
i have the greatest of respect, but rather to point out that information
garned from any reference, no matter how spendid and thorough, which
relies more or less exclusively on the published literature which i have
examined for the narrow topic of my paricular area of personal
experience, must not be regarded as being as accurate as it might be for
other areas, such as for example Florida, which have been much more
carefully researched than the North Western Atlantic region.  // If i
have upset some throught the manner in which i presented my opinions,
this was most certainly not the purpose of the offending message, which
was to gripe perhaps a bit too petulantly about the state of the
molluscan literature which represents my region, and to contribute to
the list in some small manner.

-Ross Mayhew.

Richard Petit <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

"Mr. Mayhew has paid a grave disservice to Dr. Rosenberg's excellent
Malacolog which is kept up to date and is far superior to any other such
web
site.  If you want misinformation about Western Atlantic mollusks try the
government's ITIS for which taxpayer's dollars are used.

Malacolog is a reflexion of the latest published literature.  Dr. Rosenberg
cannot be expected to monograph the entire faunal area......."

in response to:

 "  Mr. Rosenberg's Malacolog is a wonderful piece of scholarship, and a
good reference.  The main drawback is that he seems to stick to the
published literature........"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------